


Cooking with Alastor: Skillets and Roux

by dorklordliz



Series: Cooking with Alastor [3]
Category: Hazbin Hotel (Web Series)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-01
Updated: 2020-03-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 10:33:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22968529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dorklordliz/pseuds/dorklordliz
Summary: Number 3 of cooking with Alastor.Charlie finds Alastor dumping something in the trash.She offers her help and learns how to properly wash a cast iron skillet and how to make a roux for gumbo.
Series: Cooking with Alastor [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1650406
Comments: 1
Kudos: 31





	Cooking with Alastor: Skillets and Roux

The grumbling of Angel as he passed Charlie in the dark hallway, piqued her curiosity. She thought she heard him groan about cooking flour. Whatever was happening in the kitchen clearly aggravated the tall demon. She decided to make her way to the kitchen to find out what had Angel stomp down the hallway. When she reached the doorway, she stopped and watched as Alastor, wearing a stained apron without his usual coat, was scrapping the contents of a cast iron skillet into the trash. She debated with making her presence known but that was quickly decided for her. 

“Unless you are planning to wash this, then I suggest you leave.”

Charlie rolled her eyes after she realized that she had two grumpy demons in her hotel. Despite the toothy grin Alastor gave her, his tone was a clear indicator that something must have happened shortly before she passed Angel. “Yea, let me help.” She decided that she needed to try to solve whatever issue occurred earlier. “Why are ya throwing that away?” She asked as she walked up to peer into the trash that now held the dark paste. 

Alastor had already turned his back to Charlie and was already at the sink with the skillet. “The roux is burnt.” 

Charlie only blinked at that response. What she saw in the trash did not seem burnt to her. “How, that just looks like some melted chocolate.” Once she was done observing the roux, she approached the other demon to offer help in washing. 

Alastor looked at her as she stood beside him “There were black specs in it. Hard to see but it means its burnt. I can thank Angel for that.” Alastor was reaching for a clean sponge that he already had taken out to hand to Charlie “Do you know how to clean one of these?”

“Yep! Why would I not know how to wash skillet” she stated confidently as she took the sponge and began to wet it “Can you hand me the dish soap?” 

“No.”

Well that wasn’t the answer she was expecting. She extended her arm in front of Alastor to grab the dish soap only to watch him grab the bottle and move it farther away. “How am I supposed to get this clean if you won’t let me use the soap?”

Alastor laughed at Charlie realizing that she did not know how to handle cast iron. “No no my dear, you need to only scrub it with that sponge. Then rinse it with water and dry it with a clean cloth.” He waited for her nod “then set it on the stove and put it on low heat.”

Charlie puffed out her cheeks because now she was feeling like a child when in fact, she was much older than the other demon. “This isn’t exactly clean though.” She had removed the last evidence of roux and began rinsing the skillet. “This is just knocking the food off of it.”

“If you use soap, it will ruin the seasoning on it. If you insist on using soap, then, by all means, do so but you will be the one seasoning it.” He turned completely so that his whole body was facing her “I’ll assume you don’t know how to do that if you don’t know to not use soap.” 

Charlie felt as though she was being scolded by his tone. “Okay okay, no soap. Ruins seasoning. Got it” She grabbed the cloth and began drying the skillet as she walked past Alastor to the stove. She set the cloth to the side and did as she was instructed with the stove. She listened as he told her to keep the skillet there until all the water evaporated. As she waited, she decided it was a good time to find out what happened earlier “so what happened between you and Angel?”

Alastor was rolling his sleeves up to wipe up around the sink when Charlie asked. “Oh, well he must have thought I was cooking up something to eat. That pest seems to appear each time I am in here.” He set down the rag and reached for a glass bottle of vegetable oil that he had left out on the counter. “I had to explain what roux is and then he went into a fit about how hungry he was.” He grabbed a clean cloth out of a drawer as he walked over to the stove next to Charlie. “You can remove it from the stove now, dear. Take this oil and use the cloth to spread it on the skillet.” 

Charlie took the cloth and oil from Alastor after she moved the skillet. “That doesn’t explain why it got burnt.”

He watched as Charlie began to buff the skillet with oil. “When he wasn’t pleased with my answer, he decided to explore the kitchen and found the sausage I am planning to use to make a gumbo. He asked me if it was pork and not wanting to explain further to him because I wanted him to leave, I told him it was. Apparently, that is offensive to some pig that he knows. I wonder who the poor fellow is that he calls a pig. I haven't seen a pig demon around here”

Charlie just stared as he explained and made a mental note to not eat the sausage or hope that she would forget what she thinks she just understood. “Oh! He must mean his pet pig.”

“Pet pig?” his face practically lit up at his own question. “Oh the things I could do with a pig. We could have a real boucherie and hang the hog.” His two hands rested on both sides of his face as he spoke.

“No, I don’t think we can eat the pig. It’s Angel’s pet.”

“Oh nonsense, pigs are not pets.”

“Well this one is and it’s a small cute piggy.” She finished oiling the pan and set it down. “So what happened next?”

Charlie’s question pulled Alastor from his thoughts, “he took the sausage and decided to try to dispose of it since he deemed it offensive. I had to get the sausage from him before he did so. That pulled me away from stirring the roux and letting it burn.” The sound of soft static filled the air as he mentioned the roux burning. 

“Well, can we make more?”

Alastor stood and stared at Charlie as if in deep thought. His grin perked up and he came to a decision as he threw an arm around her shoulders and tugged her over to the center island in the kitchen. “That would be wonderful Charlie. We can make more! I will tell you what to do and you will make it.” He laughed briefly out loud as he finished dragging Charlie to the island. “Grab the flour and oil, I much prefer animal fat but this vegetable oil will do fine, and grab that skillet you cleaned.”

Charlie scooped up the oil and flour and turned to watch Alastor as he walked over to the sink. “Got it, now what.”

“In the skillet pour about 1 cup of oil,” he told her as he grabbed the measuring cup that was set next to the sink waiting to be cleaned from the first attempt to make a roux. As he set the cup closer to the skillet that was still next to the stove, he told her to “bring it to medium heat and then add 1 1/4 of flour.” He watched as Charlie did as instructed. “The more flour the thicker the roux will be, but if it is too thick for you to stir you can add a little more oil.” 

Once she got the oil heated up, Charlie began to add the flour and asked “after the flour is added, I just stir?”

“That is all my dear, just keep stirring and stirring.”

“What happens after the stirring?”

“Oh dear you will be stirring for a while. You can take breaks from stirring but this will take about 30 minutes, maybe 45." He laughed as she looked at him discouragingly. "We could up the heat and have you stir non-stop but that risk burning.” He watched her set a pace with the wooden spoon she was using to the stir “but after is achieves that beautiful dark color, it can be poured into this jar for later use.” He turned to grab the jar he had set out earlier and put it next to the stove for easy access for Charlie. 

Once she realized how long she will be standing here stirring, she slightly regretted offering her help. “So, what is this for again?”

Alastor had already turned away to begin cleaning when she asked her question. “Gumbo, it’s a wonderful dish that feeds many!” 

Charlie nodded and then began concentrating on the task in front of her. Her thoughts occasionally wandered off as she stirred. Comfortable silence passed for several moments and she jumped when Alastor appeared beside her.

“How is it looking, dear?”

She was still wide-eyed from alarm as she looked at him. “I uh…”

Alastor interrupted her “It looks just about done” he took the spoon from her hands and did a few stirs himself to get a better look “Yes now let it cool just a small amount so you do not burn yourself and pour it into the jar, but if you let it cool too much it will be difficult to pour. If I was using it today this step would be skipped and this would go straight into a pot.” 

“Got it!” she did as instructed and stood proudly. She exaggerated wiping her brow as she handed the finished product over the Alastor. “The roux.”

Alastor grabbed the jar and turned to set it on the island “wonderful Charlie!” He turned to face Charlie again. Now we need to clean that skillet while it is still warm. Do you remember how?”

Charlie stared at Alastor not believing what she just heard, “but I already cleaned it once.” She realized she was feeling like a child again as he looked at her with a single brow raised questioning her statement, his toothy grin still present on his face. “Yea I remember how.” 

Alastor placed a hand on Charlie’s shoulder and said “that’s swell kid, when you’re done washing the skillet and the other dishes you may go.” He turned began removing the apron. “I’ll be leaving you now since I have some other business to attend to. Thank you for the help dear.” Once he was finished speaking he turned and exited the kitchen. 

Charlie remained staring at the exit looking at the spot Alastor had just stood and then turned her attention to the roux on the counter. She chuckled as she shook her head and turned back to the stove to grab the skillet for cleanup.

**Author's Note:**

> Roux can be made to be several different ways depending on the desired flavor. Most people that make gumbo in my area prefer a dark roux.  
> Yes, this is foreshadowing my next short.


End file.
